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Lay’s Facebook promotion scooped by old media

Lay’s had a great idea to launch its newest flavor of potato chips: Crowd source it. For all the effort it put in to soliciting ideas, it seems the company’s announcement of the finalist flavors didn’t go as smoothly as it hoped.

The three finalists for the Do Us a Flavor contest are Chicken & Waffles, Cheesy Garlic Bread, and Sriracha, according to ABC News. The problem is that Facebook fans were expecting the announcement to come from the Lay’s Facebook page, which was showing three bags with question marks even after an announcement of the finalists aired on “Good Morning, America.”

According to Advertising Age, Lay’s fans weren’t taking too kindly to the announcement, or lack thereof. Some comments were even calling for their social media director to be fired. Others, like this, from a fan named Samantha, just expressed sheer confusion:

“What is going on? I'm very confused! I thought the 3 finalist are being named tonight at midnight??? But I'm reading people's comments talking about that they already pick the finalist and it was on Good Morning America????? Please Explain!”

“Asked why the Facebook page was not synced with the TV reveal, a spokeswoman told Ad Age in an email that ‘our official announcement takes place tomorrow morning, which is why the Facebook page encourages consumers to stay tuned for Tuesday.’”

Photos of the new flavors began circulating online as early as last Thursday, according to Gawker.

Two lessons to take from this experience:

1. Be more mindful about how you announce your contest winners and finalists.

On Tuesday at midnight, Lay’s unveiled the winners with a splashy image on its Facebook page. The announcement has more than 1,200 “likes,” but many of the comments resemble these: “ewwwwww I wouldn’t buy any of these,” or simply, “BARF!”